High-Performance Biodegradable PBAT/PPC Composite Film Through Reactive Compatibilizer

Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is currently the largest commercial biodegradable plastics with good toughness and film forming properties, whereas, the inferior barrier and mechanical properties hinder its applications. Biodegradable poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) with excellent barrier properties and high strength is a natural choice to address above issue. However, it is challenging to improve the compatibility of these two polymers. Herein, we prepared a reactive compatibilizer with double bond side group through terpolymerization of CO2/propylene oxide/glycidyl methacrylate to enhance the properties of PBAT/PPC blends. Upon addition of 1 wt% compatibilizer, the PBAT/PPC blends (75/25, W/W) showed an increased water vapor barrier property changed from 424 g·m−2·d−1 to 204 g·m−2·d−1 compared to the control sample. Moreover, the tensile strength and elongation at break increased from 24.7 MPa to 30.3 MPa and from 858% to 1142%, respectively. The PBAT/PPC composite also displayed excellent biodegradability under composting conditions, as confirmed by the significantly decreased molecular weight. The present work provides an efficient way to barrier biodegradable film from PBAT of practical utilization.